Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Lockheed U-2
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
===Manufacture=== Bissell became head of the project, which used covert funding; under the [[Central Intelligence Agency Act]] of 1949, the [[Director of Central Intelligence|CIA's director]] is the only federal government employee who can spend "unvouchered" government money. Lockheed received a $22.5 million contract (equivalent to ${{inflation|US|22.5|1955|r=1|fmt=c}} million in {{Inflation/year|US}}) in March 1955 for the first 20 aircraft, with the first $1.26 million (${{inflation|US|1.26|1955|r=2|fmt=c}} million in {{Inflation/year|US}}) mailed to Johnson's home in February 1955 to keep work going during negotiations. The company agreed to deliver the first aircraft by July of that year and the last by November 1956. It did so, and for $3.5 million (${{inflation|US|3.5|1956|r=1|fmt=c}} million in {{Inflation/year|US}}) under budget.{{sfn|Pedlow|Welzenbach|1992|pp=39β45}} The Flight Test Engineer in charge was [[Joseph F. Ware Jr.]]{{sfn|Cefaratt|2002|pp=78, 158}} Initial design and manufacturing was done at Lockheed's Skunk Works factory in [[Burbank, California]], with engineers embedded in the manufacturing area to address problems quickly. Procurement of the aircraft's components occurred secretly. When Johnson ordered altimeters calibrated to {{convert|80000|ft|m|-2}} from a company whose instruments only went to {{convert|45000|ft|m|-2}}, the CIA set up a cover story involving experimental rocket aircraft. [[Shell Oil]] developed a new low-volatility, low vapor pressure jet fuel that would not evaporate at high altitudes; the fuel became known as [[JP-7]]. Manufacturing several hundred thousand gallons for the aircraft in 1955 caused a nationwide shortage of Esso's [[FLIT]] [[insecticide]].{{sfn|Pedlow|Welzenbach|1992|pp=59β62, 66}} Realizing the plane could not be tested and flown out of [[Burbank Airport]], they selected what would become [[Area 51]]. It was acquired and a paved runway constructed for the project. The planes were dismantled, loaded onto cargo planes, and flown to the facility for testing. The aircraft was renamed the U-2 in July 1955, the same month the first aircraft, Article 341, was delivered to [[Groom Lake]]. The "U" referred to the deliberately vague [[United States Department of Defense aerospace vehicle designation|designation]] "utility" instead of "R" for "reconnaissance", and the [[de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter|U-1]] and [[Cessna 310|U-3]] aircraft already existed.{{sfn|Pedlow|Welzenbach|1992|pp=59β62,66}} The CIA assigned the [[cryptonym]] AQUATONE to the project, with the USAF using the name OILSTONE for their support to the CIA.{{sfn|Pocock|2005|p=24}} [[File:U2 Camera.JPG|thumb|Model "B" U-2 camera on display at the [[National Air and Space Museum]]]] [[James Gilbert Baker|James Baker]] developed the optics for a large-format camera to be used in the U-2 while working for [[Perkin-Elmer]]. The new camera had a resolution of {{convert|2.5|ft|cm|sigfig=2|sp=us}} from an altitude of {{convert|60000|ft|m|sigfig=2|sp=us}}.<ref name="I&T"/> The aircraft was so crowded that when Baker asked Johnson for {{convert|6|in|cm|spell=in|adj=pre|more}} of space for a lens with a {{convert|240|in|cm|adj=on}} focal length, Johnson replied "I'd sell my grandmother for six more inches!"; Baker instead used a {{convert|180|in|cm|adj=on}} f/13.85 lens in a {{cvt|13|x|13|in|cm|}} format for his final design.{{sfn|Pedlow|Welzenbach|1992|pp=54β55}}
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)